By Jan Wahl –
I couldn’t wait to see Nuremberg; I am fascinated by the topic of the trials of the high-ranking Nazis and I’m also a Russell Crowe fan. Nuremberg is a new film based on a 2013 book, The Nazi and the Psychologist, which is a true story I never knew about. I say that as someone who reads up on everything possible about the Nuremberg trials.
A psychiatrist is tasked with analyzing Hermann Göring and other Nazis as they fight for their lives during the Nuremberg trials. These men orchestrated the deaths of over 6 million Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies, and political opponents. Did they feel remorse, guilt, or nothing at all? It is such a great concept for a story and plot, but, in Nuremberg, they really blew it.
This movie is so wordy that it becomes boring. It’s as if director and writer James Vanderbilt wanted nothing more than to hear his own words. Even though the script is beautifully written, I just couldn’t get the emotional depth of anything that was going on in the film.
If Göring, as played by Crowe, was as boring and one-dimensional as he is portrayed in the movie, we would have had nothing to worry about from the man who orchestrated the “Final Solution.” The psychiatrist played by Rami Malek had more close-ups than Bette Davis in All About Eve, but close-ups don’t make it on their own.
At least we get a break from all the talking when the footage from liberated concentration camps is shown as a key part of the evidence presented at the trials.
My heart broke when I realized the missed opportunity in this movie to educate and enlighten. This is not just about learning the lessons of history. This is about learning so we don’t repeat something like this in our Trumpian world.
For that, we go back to 1961 to the remarkable movie Judgment at Nuremberg, a Stanley Kramer production starring Montgomery Clift, Judy Garland, and Oscar winner Maximilian Schell. Schell won the Oscar for Best Actor, and I’ll never forget my mother jumping up and down because his acting was so good that she believed he really was a Nazi. This film, unlike Nuremberg, is a powerful depiction of the trials that took place starting at around this time of year, November 20, in 1945, and that ended on October 1, 1946.
Jan Wahl is a Hollywood historian and film critic on various broadcast outlets. She has two Emmys and many awards for her longtime work on behalf of film buffs and the LGBTQ community. Contact her at www.janwahl.com
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Published on November 20, 2025
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